Striking differences in the patterns of cancer from region to region are observed.
Developing countries are facing a heavier cancer burden with a majority of the 12.7 million new cases of cancer in 2008 and 7.6 million cancer deaths worldwide occurring in these parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. A recently adopted resolution of the U.N. General Assembly called for action to address the increasing trends in premature deaths from non-communicable diseases worldwide, with a particular focus on developing countries.
Assuming underlying rates of cancer will remain unaltered over the next two decades, GLOBOCAN 2008 projects that by 2030, there will be almost 21.4 million new cases diagnosed annually and that there will be over 13.2 million deaths from cancer.
The data is drawn from GLOBOCAN 2008, a new online resource developed by the agency to provide comprehensive data on cancer throughout the world. GLOBOCAN 2008 provides worldwide estimates of the numbers of new cases of, and deaths from, cancer for 2008. Information is provided for the overall burden of cancer and for 27 specific cancer types for almost all countries or territories of the world.
The data show that 56 percent of new cancer cases and 63 percent of cancer mortality occurred within developing nations in 2008.
Lung cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide with 1.6 million cases or 12.7 percent of the total. It was followed by breast cancer (1.38 million or 10.9 percent) and colorectal cancers (1.23 million or 9.7 percent).
Lung cancer also proved to be the number one killer among cancers with a total of 1.4 million deaths or 18.2 percent of all cancer deaths attributed to it. Stomach (.74 million or 9.7 percent) and liver cancers (.69 million or 9.2 percent) also were among the deadliest forms of the disease.
“Striking differences in the patterns of cancer from region to region are observed,” says Christopher Wild, director of IARC. “Cervix and liver cancers are much more common in developing regions of the world, whereas prostate and colorectal cancers are more common in developed regions.”
Country | Rate |
Gaza Strip and West Bank | 54.86 |
Syrian Arab Republic | 71.85 |
Namibia | 78.30 |
Sudan | 81.55 |
Botswana | 85.68 |
Niger | 86.44 |
Tanzania | 87.23 |
Saudi Arabia | 87.61 |
United Arab Emirates | 88.85 |
Uzbekistan | 89.21 |
Central African Republic | 89.74 |
Equatorial Guinea | 90.52 |
Congo, Republic of | 90.68 |
Congo, Democratic Republic of | 90.75 |
Cote d Ivoire | 90.88 |
The Gambia | 91.31 |
Yemen | 91.83 |
Gabon | 91.88 |
Cameroon | 92.13 |
Oman | 92.39 |
Solomon Islands | 92.93 |
Samoa | 93.13 |
Chad | 94.17 |
Angola | 95.70 |
Eritrea | 95.76 |
Djibouti | 97.98 |
Tajikistan | 98.29 |
India | 98.50 |
Lesotho | 99.37 |
Liberia | 101.19 |
Comoros | 101.49 |
Togo | 101.55 |
Morocco | 101.88 |
Sierra Leone | 102.68 |
Mauritania | 102.99 |
Swaziland | 103.08 |
Cape Verde | 103.13 |
Senegal | 103.14 |
Benin | 103.29 |
Burkina Faso | 103.92 |
Guinea-Bissau | 103.94 |
Iraq | 104.85 |
Algeria | 105.77 |
Ethiopia | 107.15 |
Afghanistan | 107.19 |
Iran, Islamic Republic of | 107.29 |
Egypt | 108.39 |
Ghana | 109.46 |
Western Sahara | 109.79 |
Mauritius | 110.50 |
Sri Lanka | 110.99 |
Libya | 111.27 |
Guinea | 111.59 |
Nigeria | 111.71 |
Somalia | 113.48 |
Vanuatu | 113.85 |
Pakistan | 114.72 |
Belize | 115.02 |
Philippines | 116.09 |
Qatar | 116.85 |
Kuwait | 117.20 |
Mali | 119.99 |
Bolivia | 121.91 |
Tunisia | 121.94 |
Jordan | 123.03 |
Mozambique | 123.51 |
Burundi | 124.52 |
Bangladesh | 124.85 |
Bhutan | 126.57 |
Rwanda | 126.84 |
Georgia | 127.86 |
Mexico | 128.41 |
Fiji | 128.86 |
Bahrain | 129.60 |
Korea, Democratic Republic of | 130.32 |
Turkmenistan | 132.56 |
Kenya | 132.84 |
Cambodia | 133.06 |
Haiti | 133.79 |
Madagascar | 135.02 |
El Salvador | 135.87 |
Viet Nam | 138.67 |
Papua New Guinea | 139.04 |
Nicaragua | 140.18 |
Zambia | 140.82 |
Nepal | 141.61 |
Malaysia | 142.87 |
Indonesia | 143.53 |
Panama | 143.91 |
Suriname | 144.46 |
Turkey | 144.77 |
Kyrgyzstan | 145.21 |
Lao PDR | 146.09 |
Malawi | 148.95 |
Guyana | 150.17 |
Colombia | 150.19 |
Thailand | 150.51 |
Dominican Republic | 151.67 |
Venezuela | 152.64 |
Myanmar | 152.88 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 153.37 |
Guatemala | 154.05 |
Bahamas | 156.45 |
Peru | 157.11 |
Guam | 157.88 |
Azerbaijan | 157.89 |
Zimbabwe | 159.14 |
Ecuador | 161.58 |
Greece | 161.99 |
Brunei | 162.41 |
Bosnia Herzegovena | 166.98 |
Paraguay | 167.67 |
Lebanon | 169.56 |
French Guyana | 170.82 |
Brazil | 171.34 |
Uganda | 171.85 |
Costa Rica | 176.30 |
Chile | 176.74 |
Cyprus | 178.76 |
Honduras | 180.51 |
China | 180.96 |
Republic of Moldova | 186.03 |
Kazakhstan | 186.66 |
Jamaica | 187.83 |
France, La Reunion | 190.24 |
Ukraine | 191.07 |
Cuba | 192.99 |
Puerto Rico | 193.96 |
Singapore | 195.97 |
France, Guadeloupe | 196.86 |
Russian Federation | 200.48 |
Japan | 201.15 |
South African Republic | 201.99 |
Albania | 202.77 |
Romania | 205.11 |
Argentina | 206.25 |
Montenegro | 206.92 |
Armenia | 207.53 |
Barbados | 207.91 |
Malta | 211.35 |
Belarus | 213.11 |
New Caledonia | 218.50 |
Bulgaria | 219.89 |
Portugal | 223.20 |
Serbia | 224.40 |
FYR Macedonia | 225.07 |
Poland | 225.12 |
Estonia | 230.13 |
Latvia | 230.44 |
France, Martinique | 234.85 |
Spain | 241.44 |
Mongolia | 242.23 |
Chinese Taipei | 244.07 |
Lithuania | 244.43 |
Finland | 250.10 |
Austria | 250.58 |
Sweden | 259.70 |
Slovakia | 260.59 |
Korea, Republic of | 262.35 |
Croatia | 262.38 |
Slovenia | 264.80 |
Switzerland | 269.33 |
United Kingdom | 269.38 |
French Polynesia | 269.61 |
Italy | 274.31 |
Uruguay | 280.35 |
Germany | 282.06 |
Luxembourg | 284.02 |
Hungary | 286.60 |
Israel | 288.27 |
Czech Republic | 288.54 |
The Netherlands | 289.87 |
Iceland | 290.43 |
Canada | 296.65 |
Norway | 297.88 |
United States of America | 300.22 |
France (metropolitan) | 300.44 |
New Zealand | 309.21 |
Belgium | 309.43 |
Australia | 314.09 |
Ireland | 317.03 |
Denmark | 321.09 |
Source: International Agency for Research on Cancer
GLOBOCAN 2008
June 04, 2010
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-developing_cancer.html